Canteen dining

Above: Men's canteen

Above: Trevor Mitchell and Nicholas Braime

Above: Billiard table in the men's canteen

Above: Braimes' factory

Above: Braimes' ladies in the kitchen

THE national guardian of Stonehenge, abbeys, castles, palaces and stately homes has discovered an appetite for a works canteen in Leeds. But for the intervention of English Heritage, a unique example of i ndustrial and social history might have fallen victim to the r emorseless transformation of the city’s skyline.

It’s the first time the conservation body has intervened to save the dining area of a factory and ensure Grade II listed status for a scene where stew, mash and two veg, and sponge and custard, used to be on the menu. This is no ordinary canteen. It is rich in architectural quirks and cultural subtleties, and represented another first for the engineering firm of TF and JH Braime. The company, founded in the Hunslet area of Leeds 120 years ago, gained a world-wide reputation after creating a humble oil can whose design has largely withstood other advances in technology.

Over time the firm also moved into bigger metal products, and during the First World War made casings for shells and naval mines. The war transformed the business in other ways. As some of the all-male workforce was called to arms, Braimes needed replacements on assembly lines and recruited women for the first time – which in turn led to another revolution.

The firm considered that the ‘gentler sex’ should be fed hot meals on the premises, and in 1917 established a women-only canteen. It was officially opened by Princess Mary, later the Countess of Harewood, a staunch supporter of welfare organisations. In the name of fair play, the company also provided a similar facility for men, but this early example of equality was limited – the sexes were segregated and ate on separate floors. A third eaterie was established for management, though in keeping with their status it was officially called a ‘private staff dining room’.

There have been other examples of Leeds leading the way in works catering. In 1934 the tailoring giant Montague Burton established the largest canteen in the world at its Harehills site, reportedly with seating for 8,000 employees. But it was the threat to what had been a pioneering venture at Braimes which prompted English Heritage to act. There was concern that the canteen block would be lost when the company moves to a new but smaller factory and the site is redeveloped for housing and leisure.

Protected status, along with other sections of the works such as the toilets, panelled reception area and the decorated red-brick frontage, means that the canteens will have to be incorporated into the new project. Given their food background there are suggestions they would make an ideal setting for a restaurant, themed pub, or perhaps could form part of an hotel. Any adaptation will have plenty of history to work with. The canteens’ features include mahogany and marble worktops, stained glass windows, glazed brown and green tiles and ceramic volutes characteristic of Ionic capitals – in other words, mince and gravy was served up amid extravagant designs inspired by the Classical period. Braimes spared little expense in ensuring that workers ate well in grand surroundings during their shifts, not least because it helped production. ‘The canteens were not only innovative but luxurious compared to the tiny, cramped houses most of the employees lived in,’ says Trevor Mitchell, English Heritage’s team leader in West Yorkshire. The daily dishes were prepared in a kitchen on the top floor and delivered to the canteens by dumb waiters.

 On Bank Holidays and some weekends the dining areas, complete with herringbone-patterned parquet floors, were also used for dances. The firm, which used to have nearly 1,000 employees and now has about 100, stopped producing hot food for them more than 20 years ago. But the workforce still uses one of the canteens for their packed lunches and tea breaks. Snooker tables also remain, as does a plaque marking interdepartmental rivalries at billiards, when the sheet metal department took on the machine shop, or the oil can department competed against the die and press sections. The canteens’ original tables with cast-iron legs are still there, and in the vicinity of a couple of microwaves and snack vending machines are reminders of a richer catering past. They include enamelled ovens and industrial-scale utensils. English Heritage wonders if they too could have a role in the building’s next life. ‘All this history is another example of why we have to think hard before sending bulldozers into old industrial buildings,’ says Mitchell. ‘They represent eras when there was remarkable investment in quality materials and workmanship. ‘Buildings, like businesses, have to reinvent themselves.

The trick is to find new roles which can work around what is special about old structures and what they were previously used for. Leeds architectural heritage is particularly rich, from Kirkstall Abbey and the town hall to a works canteen for women, which in this case represents the beginning of a cultural revolution. Its preservation is a first.’ Safeguarding the commercial past has occasionally sent a shiver through some businessmen wanting to maximise a property’s value.‘The arrival of English Heritage was not something we looked forward to,’ admits Nicholas Braime, head of the family-controlled company founded by his grandfather’s elder brother.

Initially, the current chairman and the conservationists saw the future from different sides of the fence, but now they are working together successfully to preserve the best of the 5.6-acre site. Braime acknowledges that its historical importance is beyond doubt. ‘There was a time when women would not have been allowed to work here. Men wouldn’t have accepted them doing their jobs. The attitude was that women should be in nursing or domestic service, and not much else. The First World War changed everything.’ For all that it challenged sexism in the workplace, the war’s human cost was staggering. A memorial in the canteen records that this one company alone lost 163 workers, including a member of the Braime family.